Islamic modernism
constituted the reexamining Islam in terms of contemporary realities. It is
aimed to protect religion from narrow or erroneous interpretations, opening up
Islam as a vital force in the lives of men and women as they face the
uncertainties by massive economic and technological change.

Upper and middle-class men
had the economic means to keep "their" women in domestic seclusion. Men of the
urban poor and peasantry did not; moreover, the labor of "their" women was
needed outside the house. Urban women of all classes and women of the rural
gentry veiled their faces if and when they went outside. Peasant women did not
veil because the custom was incompatible with their work in the fields, although
Bedouin women who tended flocks covered their faces. Confining women to the
home, rendering them invisible, and segregating them from all men except close
relatives were hallmarks of urban upper-and middle-class harem culture. The
Arabic word harim (from which the English word harem is derived)
applied both to women and to the women's quarters of the house. Islam ordained
neither domestic confinement nor veiling the face, although both had been
enforced on women in the name of religion. (Feminists, Islam, and Nation
by Margot Badran, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1995, p
5). Women were held to possess a more powerful sexual drive than men, posing a
threat to society because of the chaos or fitna they could unleash. It
was popularly believed that the mere proximity of a woman to a man would lead to
sexual relations. To make matters still more fraught, women's sexual purity
was linked to the honor of men and the family, while men's sexual purity was not
linked to their own honor nor to that of their women and family. Restricting
women to their homes and camouflaging them if they went out were deemed
necessary to the preservation of their purity and with it the honor of their men
and families. In all classes girls were commonly married-without their free
consent, contrary to the requirements of Islam-around the age of thirteen.

Shaykh Muhammad 'Abduh
articulated the discourse of Islamic modernism. He advocated a return to the
practice of ijtihad (independent inquiry), calling upon Muslims to look
to the scriptural sources of their religion for fresh inspiration. This gave
Muslims-men and women- a tool to interpret religion they and to apply Islam anew
in their lives. In this way some men and women came to see that the domestic
cloistering of women and the imposition of the face veil (niqab) were not
religious prescriptions. They also discovered that other practices ordained by
Islam, such as obtaining a woman's consent in marriage, were ignored, while men
often abused their rights to divorce and polygamy. (Ibid p.11).

In the late 19th
century, for some Muslims a woman's voice was considered 'awrah
(literally pudenda; more generally construed as anything having sexual
connotations) and therefore something to be "covered" or unheard. Hence women
took to writing and published in women's press, focusing mainly on the
enhancement of women's family roles and on education as serving these roles.
Writing women challenged the ideology of 'awrah that used to silence women.
This early " unveiling" of women's voices was paralleled by a literal unveiling,
as some (non-Muslim) women began to uncover their faces.

In Egypt Qasim Amin
published Tahrir al-Mar'ah (the liberation of the woman) in 1899, called for an
end to female seclusion, which he demonstrated had nothing to do with Islam. He
advocated the elimination of abuses of divorce and polygamy. Women must be
educated. Amin also called for an end to face veiling (niqab), which
likewise had nothing to do with Islam. In 1900 Amin published al-Mar'ah al-Jadidah
(The new woman), applying secular arguments to his call for female, and hence
national, liberation. The outcry against Amin was intense because of his status
as a male Muslim and respected judge who not only insisted that his views
conformed with Islam, but also used secular arguments.

The Arabic word Nisa'ilyah
is an ambiguous term that can signify anything pertaining to women; sometimes
it denotes "feminist" and sometimes "feminine." The term feminisme was
originally coined in France in the 1880s but was not widely used until the early
1890s, after it had come into use as "feminism" in England. "Feminism" first
appeared in the United Sates in the 1910s. Just a decade later nisa'i
began to be used to signify "feminist" in Egypt. The Arabic Academy in Cairo
recently adopted a word for patriarchy, abawiyah, but it has yet to adopt
a word for feminism (ibid p.19).

In the 1920s and 1930s
women in Egypt, encouraged by an independent feminist movement, decided
themselves if and when to unveil, whereas their counterparts in Turkey and Iran,
where subjected to unveiling by state measure. In Algeria, which experienced a
protracted French colonial rule (1830-1962) where a large French settler
community was implanted, retaining the veil became a mode of nationalist
defense. Before and after the French tried to instigate unveiling as a cultural
form of colonial assault, the veiled woman as the "authentic" Algerian-as
Algeria-became a symbol of anticolonial resistance.

In Egypt during the 19th
and early 20th century the Arabic word Hijab, veil, signified
covering the face and was used as a generic term. The specific term was
burqa. In the 1970s in Egypt hijab meant not hiding the face but simply to
cover the head, while covering the face is called niqab, which is not
required by Islam. With veils in Egypt becoming increasingly transparent and
cloaks becoming more seductive, veiling per se was not necessarily an expression
of modesty. The idea and practice of hijab had lost its original meaning.

Badran, says "The veil was
clearly more than an emblem of modesty. It was a symbol of the harem culture
designed to keep women contained and subordinate, and ultimately for this reason
patriarchalists supported veiling. However, as feminists recognized, the
practice was on its way out; with time and resocializing of the rising
generation, it would disappear-until its resurrection, albeit in a different
form, at the end of the twentieth century." (Ibid p.69)

In 1937 the Fatwa Committee
of al-Azhar issued a ruling declaring that the Hanafi School of jurisprudence
did not oppose unveiling and the Maliki school did not require veiling. (Ibid,
p. 93).

There are some
Muslim countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan, that have
sought to implement Islamic law, and whose interpretation of Islamic law is that
every sin should also be a crime. This is a distortion of Islam. As stated at
the beginning of this section, it violates one of Islam's most basic tenets:
"There is no compulsion in the religion." And the evidence in the hadiths
clearly shows that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never implemented
the Quran and Sunna this way. His is the example Muslims should follow.

The fact is, if
a woman fails to cover her hair, it doesn't harm anyone. This is because men are
commanded (in Surah an-Nur verse 30) to look away from what they are not allowed
to see. When a woman came before the Prophet (pbuh) in revealing clothing, he
didn't arrest her or beat her or take any other actions that the "religious
police" of Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Afghanistan would do. Instead, he merely
advised her that God had commanded women not to display themselves in public
except for their faces and hands. With the example of the Prophet (pbuh) to
follow, no Muslim who is sincerely committed to his or her religion would ever
force a woman to wear hijab or make failure to wear hijab a crime under the law.
It's as simple as that.

The
hijab: A symbol of dignity, propriety and women's modesty 2

Basically, there is no binding prescription for the veil in Islamic law, but
there are suggestions, as in the 33rd verse of the Holy Quran: "Oh Prophet, say
to thy wives, and thy daughters, and the women folk of the believers, that they
let down some part of their mantles over them, that is suitable for their being
recognised and not insulted" (33:59).

In another verse, "And say to the believing women that they should lower their
gaze and guard their modesty, that they should not display their beauty and
charms except what (normally) appears of them, that they should draw their veils
over their bosoms and display their beauty only to their husbands, their
fathers" (24:31).

This verse is interpreted as evidence of the exhortation to Muslim women to veil
themselves. Accordingly, the hijab became a basic practice for all Muslim
women. Moreover, it represents a symbol of women's dignity; a cover that
shelters them from the public's eyes. This is the wisdom behind the hijab.

In Islamic literature, nothing more illustrates the interaction of Quranic
prescription and customary practices than the development of the hijab and
seclusion (harem) of women. Both are believed to be customs assimilated from the
conquered Persian and Byzantine societies and viewed as appropriate expressions
of Quranic norms and values. The connection between the hijab and the seclusion
appeared only when, during Muslim conquests of Persia and India, many noble
women went into seclusion as a sign of prestige.

Opponents of the veil, however, claim that the Holy Quran does not stipulate the
veil or seclusion. On the contrary, it tends to encourage women's active
participation in the public life and emphasizes equal religious responsibility
of both sexes. They also point out that while on pilgrimage (ritual
consecration) men and women are required to uncover their face and hands.

Muslim jurists interpret the imposition of the veil as a way to shelter and
protect women from being exposed to the public glare. In fact, the concept of
the veil already existed in countries that were conquered by Muslims, and where
the veil was considered a symbol of class distinction. It was the right of free
women to wear it. In contrast, the slave who did this was liable to be punished.
When Islam arrived, it imposed the hijab as a common practice for all female
believers, regardless of their status. In fact, in Islam modesty is required of
both sexes.

Through the years, the concept of the hijab went through certain stages of
development, according to the nature of the society where it was worn and
according to the time in which it was adopted. Although it is not specified in
Islam, the hijab's color has also developed over the years, according to the
area in which it is worn and the status of those wearing it.

Black seems to be favoured by noble women and by those from the upper strata of
society. It represents women's propriety and dignity. With the spread of
Islam, the custom of wearing the veil spread quickly.

In fact, it became the most visible sign of religion in secular societies. It
was this sign that some secular societies found alarming. Although it might be
seen as purely internal issue, France's action has many implications. The most
serious of all is the standpoint, which interprets this action as a part of the
so-called "clash of civilizations". Muslim communities worldwide viewed France's
action as hostile and irresponsible – one that could affect the lives and
freedom of millions of Muslim women in France.

It also affects the mere concept of France's values and what it stands for, as
far as human dignity and freedom are concerned. France, which is multi-cultural
and one of Europe's freest societies, has chosen to adopt a strict law that
deprives some of its citizens of their rights.

Although France's action is criticized by many human rights groups, who see it
as a breach of civil liberties, the French Parliament went ahead and approved
it, thus creating a rift between France and millions of Muslims worldwide. It
also affected the image of France as a free society in the eyes of many,
including some westerners. By adopting such a law, France has opened the way
for other European countries to follow suit. Whether France's action has
far-reaching political implications or not remains to be seen.